Few people are better equipped to write about the dramatic change in Delhi’s character than Dhruv Chaudhuri, son of Nirad C Chaudhuri. He came to Delhi in 1942, when his father rented a flat near Mori Gate. He never went to school, but learnt everything from his distinguished father. He took up photography as his profession, starting with a box camera before going in for more sophisticated instruments. He has recorded his impressions of the Delhi that was with beautiful photographs and lucidly written text in Delhi: Light, Shades, Shadows (Niyogi Books). I recommend this pictorial biography of the Delhi that was and what it became to all lovers of the city.

Few people are better equipped to write about the dramatic change in Delhi’s character than Dhruv Chaudhuri, son of Nirad C Chaudhuri. He came to Delhi in 1942, when his father rented a flat near Mori Gate. He never went to school, but learnt everything from his distinguished father. He took up photography as his profession, starting with a box camera before going in for more sophisticated instruments. He has recorded his impressions of the Delhi that was with beautiful photographs and lucidly written text in Delhi: Light, Shades, Shadows (Niyogi Books). I recommend this pictorial biography of the Delhi that was and what it became to all lovers of the city.

Walking through the streets of Delhi, the book portrays the changes the city has undergone over the years...

Dhruva Chaudhuri’s book contains some pictures taken by a five rupee box camera when he was thirteen...

There are images of bullock carts outside parliament, trams in Old Delhi and chessplayers in Bazaar Sita Ram. This Delhi is lost to us now. Which is what makes this an important document. Chaudhuri’s book comes in a pleasing square format. Save this one for a long afternoon…

DN Chaudhuri offers us a kaleidoscopic view of a city that has grown from an eminently walkable entity to be savoured in a leisurely fashion, to the behemoth it now is…